Background

The British conquest of German East Africa was planned as a two-pronged invasion of the German colony, at (1) the port town of Tanga and (2) the settlement Longido on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. The plan was designed at a Mombasa staff conference with Major General A. E. Aitken in overall command. The first and largest prong was to be the capture of Tanga with the British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" of some 8,000 men in two brigades.

The second prong would be an attack on the German defenses at Longido in the north around Kilimanjaro, then swing south and seize Neu Moshi, the western terminus of the Usambara or Northern Railroad. "The objective for the capture of Longido was to squeeze the German Schutztruppe in the upper end of a two-hundred-mile pincer."Miller, Battle for the Bundu, p. 54 The region was a major German settlement area with established plantations of sisal, coffee and other cash crops at the northern edge of the Usambara highlands. Since small German raiding parties had already begun to ambush British detachments and attack the Uganda Railway, the destruction of German forces in the area bordering British East Africa was a key objective of the British plan of operation. “The strategy was faultless on...Read More